IRAN NEWS |

France and Germany: Iran Must "Roll Back" Ballistic Missile Programme and Stop Destabilising the Middle East

NCRI - The French foreign minister announced that France and Germany have agreed that the Iranian Regime Iran must "roll back" its malign ballistic missile programme and its dangerous meddling in the other countries of the Middle East.

Jean-Yves Le Drian made these comments at a joint press conference in Paris with his German counterpart, Sigmar Gabriel, on December 4.

Earlier that day, according to state-run media, the Iranian Foreign Ministry representative Bahram Qasemi said that the Regime would "definitely not negotiate on defence and missile issues".

Both Le Drian and Gabriel told reporters that their respective countries would continue to defend the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers (the UK, China, Germany, France, Russia, and the US) which was supposed to give the Iranian Regime sanctions relief in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear activities.

Le Drian said: "We agree that we need rigorous implementation and a full respect of commitments taken by all the parties [to the deal].”

He insisted that the accord "guarantees that the Iranian nuclear program will not be diverted to serve military purposes".

However, this is not the only point of view for the signatories to the deal.

In October, Donald Trump refused to certify Iranian compliance with the terms of the nuclear deal and asked Congress to decide whether or not to increase sanctions on Iran.

Indeed, the Iranian Regime had consistently blocked thorough international inspections, worked with North Korean scientists on the North Korean nuclear programme, and launched ballistic missiles in spite of the UN resolution that enshrines the nuclear deal.

Trump also threatened to pull out altogether, noting that the Iranian Regime was "not living up to the spirit" of the agreement through its support of terrorist groups in the Middle East.

Since the beginning of 2017, the US has imposed several rounds of sanctions on individuals and entities over Iran’s missile program and other "destabilizing actions".

The Iranian Regime has denied this- claiming the missiles are for defensive purposes and that their nuclear programme is peaceful- but there is much evidence that the Regime is using the ballistic missiles for non-defensive purposes, like supplying the Houthi terrorist group in Yemen with ballistic missiles to fire upon Saudi Arabia.

In early November, the Houthis launched a missile against Riyadh International Airport- it was one of 80 such missiles fired at Saudi interests since the start of the war in Yemen in 2015. The Houthis have claimed that they built the weapons themselves but they simply don’t have the resources and analysis of the destroyed missiles show Iranian markers.